The Key and the Rose
by Schemer and Destiny
Summary: When Sora and Jenn, along with people from the world of Kingdom Hearts, have lost their memories and are puppets in a time old tale of betrayal and fear, can Kelsey and Riku rescue their friends in time, or is history doomed to repeat itself? KHPOTO cross
1. Prologue

**Schemer and Destiny proudly present their first ever joint fan ficiont: The Key and the Rose!****  
**

**Prologue**

The stars flicked gently against the blackness of the galaxy. All the sudden, an engine could be heard and a small, one man Gummi ship came speeding by, breaking the silence. Inside, a young man was leaning back carelessly in the pilot's chair. He hand one of his large, yellow shoes perched on the steering controls, tilting the wheel to guide the ship through the air. He wore a childish smile on his face and his blue eyes glinted mischievously under his mop of spiky brown hair. One of his gloved hands tapped the arm of his chair as he laughed to himself.

"There is no way Riku would be able to do this" he said loudly, though there was no one else in the ship with him "Nuh-uh, Riku would have crashed by now". The Keyblader laughed harder, but his laugh was cut short as he saw an asteroid approaching him. He yelled in alarm, leaned forward, grabbed the steering wheel and swerved a hard right. He looked back through the three hundred and sixty degree window that made up the control room of his Gummi ship. His eyes were wide as he tried to slow his breathing. "Like I said" he mumbled, running his hand through his hair "Riku would have hit that…yeah…"

The boy let out a large breath of air, then pressed a few buttons switching his Gummi ship to manual. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms and legs and moved his hands behind his head. Thinking twice, he reached into one of his large pockets and pulled out a letter. He looked down at the seal on the letter. It was one large circle with two smaller circles on the top. This he knew to be the seal of King Mickey, ruler of Disney Castle. He unrolled the letter and glanced at the small, neat handwriting.

Sora,

I have been notified by a friend that there is Nobody activity occurring in a world on the outskirts of the galaxy. I need you to go there and shut them down. It should be an easy task; I doubt you will require back up, unless you feel you need it (Here, the boy snorted proudly). Please handle this as soon as possible.

King Mickey

Sora rolled up the letter and stuck it back in his pocket. He pulled off his left hand glove and looked at the name of the world he had hurriedly written on his palm in pen. 'Opera Populaire, Paris'. Sora shrugged to himself. "Sounds weird" he mumbled. Just then, an alarm went off in the Gummi ship, making him jump. He looked on the screen and read 'Destination Reached'. Sora smiled. He switched off the autopilot and pushed forward on the steering wheel. The Gummi Ship's engine roared and he shot forward to the dark world in front of him, expecting to be in and out in a few minutes.

However, things are not always as we expect them to be.

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Sora hopped out of the Gummi ship and shut the door with his foot. He summoned the Kingdom Key and gripped it loosely. His eyes were wide as he stared around the place he had landed. It was on top of a large building looking out over a shining city. Sora's mouth fell open and moved slowly into a delighted smile as he watched the city. He stared with wonder at the large carriages and the beautiful outfits of the aristocrats that crowded the streets. "Cool" he laughed happily.

He leaned down far over the edge of the roof and his eyes widened again, but in shock. The large, beautiful building was boarded up with several windows broken. Sora stood up and walked around the roof for a bit. He activated the cloaking devise on the Gummi Ship (which he realized he should have done earlier) and looked down at the hatched leading into the building. He tried to open it, but when it wouldn't, he kicked hard on the door and it broke. "Oops" Sora said briefly, looking around to make sure no one saw that. Seeing he was alone, he climbed down a ladder and jumped down onto the landing.

Sora leaned the Keyblade against his shoulder and strolled down the hallway. The carpet was covered in soot and dirt, the walls were broken, and some of the doors were hanging off their hinges. Sora swung himself over the railing and landed on the next floor down. He began to run, not liking to linger around the destruction and continued running down every floor at break neck speed. Once he reached the last floor, he looked around for somewhere else to go. "Aw, c'mon" he grumbled "there is _nothing_ here and if this was a false alarm-"

A statue suddenly swung away from the wall, making Sora yell again. It revealed a large hole in the wall. Peering down it, Sora saw a huge stone slide. "Well" he sighed "tally ho". Sora lowered himself into the slide and let go of the wall. Cold air and dust flew up to meet his face as he slid faster and faster. He coughed and spluttered, shutting his eyes against the grime. As he continued his bumpy ride, he felt the slide level out. "Oh my" he yelped. Sora shot out of the slide and slammed into the stone ground with a grunt. Sora slid to a stop and opened his eyes, an action that was followed by another yell of shock. He was a few inches away from tumbling over a ledge into a rather murky lake.

Sora let out a long breath. "Sheesh" he sighed, pushing hair out of his eyes once again. He stood up and brushed himself off to the best of his ability, summoned his Keyblade, and looked around. The catacomb he was in looked like an old, elegant room by the furniture, but the cellar that it was located in was moldy and abandoned. Sora walked around, holding his Keyblade loosely at his side. He ran one of his hands over the keys of a broken organ as he trod on old music sheets. He furrowed his brow, wondering who could have brought all this down here. His eyes roved over the old, decrepit wood that made up the furniture, the bed sheets and blankets that still bore their intricate patterns, though the color had faded.

Suddenly, music began to play. Sora turned sharply, swinging his Keyblade in an arc behind him. Seeing no one, he stood and turned his head looking for the source. His eyes landed on a music box on a table near him. A rather odd looking monkey stared back at him, tapping two cymbals together in time with the music. Sora walked over to it and his hand touched the barrel part.

"Like it?" came a deep voice from behind him. This time, Sora spun his Keyblade and it met metal with a loud clang. Turning, Sora's eyes met a pair of stormy blue eyes a few feet from his face. Sora took two steps back so he could get a better look at the man standing before him. The man was tall with pale brown hair that was slicked back. He looked to be in his late twenties, much older than Sora, and wore clothes Sora assumed were normal for this world: black pants and a jacket with a crisp white shirt underneath it. A cape hung gracefully over his shoulders and leather gloves donned his hands. He held a thin sword with the hilt shaped like a skull and a mask covered the right side of his face.

Sora looked back at the music box and then faced the man again. "Who are you?" he asked. The man laughed coolly. "That is no way to treat your host, Sora" he said with a slight smile. Sora took another step back. "How'd you know my name?" he asked, alarmed. The man laughed harder. Sora narrowed his eyes and held his Keyblade at an offensive stance. "What do you want?" Sora asked, determined to figure out what was going on.

The man smiled and lowered his sword. He held out his hand to Sora in a way that disturbingly reminded Sora of his vision of Riku. The man's smile turned to more of a smirk. "You" He said. Sora's eyes widened and he let out a yell of horror as the floor disappeared beneath him. He felt himself falling, felt himself going numb, and heard the man laughing before he blacked out.

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_Knock._

Silence.

_Knock._

The teenage blonde girl brought her hand down, away from the wooden door to frown impatiently at it.

_Knock knock._

No response.

"Sora, are you there?" Jenn yelled, glancing through a window next to the door. She couldn't see anyone in the house, and she sighed.

"Well, I'll be around if you decide to answer." She said, turning on her heel and walking off, shuffling along the beach. Why hadn't Sora responded? He had to be up by now; he never slept late, even on weekends. Unless, of course, he fell asleep on the beach in which case it was very hard to wake him up.

"I'll check the beach." She mumbled, swinging herself around a nearby tree by sticking her arm out and grabbing onto it.

The beach was empty, the only sounds coming from the constantly crashing waves and cawing seagulls. No one was around that she could see; not a single one of the normal occupants of the small island were around.

"Huh." Jenn said, biting her lip in slight worry. "No one's here."

Her blue eyes flashed to the distant and much larger island, where the majority of the people lived. The kids would come to hang out on the island all day, but even the usual variety of children and teenagers did not inhabit the island today.

"Maybe I'm dreaming." She said in a monotonous tone. "Or maybe I'm just alone on an island."

She sighed again, sitting herself down on the warm beach sand and crossing her arms. "Okay, so now what?"

As if something had been waiting for her to ask the question, a swirling black portal appeared on the other side of the beach in a few seconds.

Jenn stared curiously at the portal, standing up as a figure materialized in the blackness and stepped out on the beach.

It was Sora.

"I've been looking for you!" Jenn said, irritated but grinning. "And since when do you travel like that?"

The brunette shrugged, taking another step away from the portal and onto the sand. "I was just in another world for a while, that's all."

"Well," the blonde girl said, "what world was it?"

Sora was silent for a minute, watching Jenn with a one-sided grin that was very un-Sora like. "I can show you if you want." He said finally, extending a hand.

Jenn blinked. "What?"

He didn't repeat himself, but simply stood there, azure eyes flashing, arm extended.

_This is weird, _she thought, taking a few steps foreword. _Why doesn't he just use the Gummi Ship or something?_

"…all right, then." She said, taking his hand.

Then they were gone in another flash of black light.


	2. The White Room

**Here is Chapter One. Just for the record, I realize there may have been some anger on account of the description of the Phantom in the prologue, but trust us, it is suppose to be that way.**

**Can we please get some reviews this chapter? **

**Chapter One**

**The White Room**

The tall brunette skidded to a halt in front of the mansion. She looked up at the tall, dark building for a moment, then threw open the door and ran inside. She paused again as she viewed the dusty old lobby and coughed as she inhaled the heavy air. Shaking her head, she ran forward towards the stairs, unable to see the other figure heading that same way.

WHAM!

The two collided loudly and toppled to the ground in a heap. The girl cursed, but paused as she heard a voice she recognized yelling "Get _off _of me!". "Riku!" Kelsey squealed happily, looking at the silver haired boy currently pinned underneath her. "Oh not _you_" Riku groaned as he sat up, knocking Kelsey off to the side. "I know you're happy to see me" Kelsey said as she enveloped the other teen in a huge hug. "Stop that" Riku grumbled, attempting to wriggle free, but to no use. He sighed and stood gloomily for a few moments until Kelsey released him from her fangirl hug of joy.

Riku made sure to take a large step back before straightening his jacket and looking back at the girl next to him. "So" he said "she called you too?". Kelsey, suddenly serious, nodded. Riku sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "Well let's go" he said. Walking now, the two headed up the stairs, followed the long hallway, and arrived at an unmarked door. Not hesitating, Kelsey pushed it open.

They found themselves in a room that was completely white. The curtains, the walls, the floors, even the flowers in the vase were white. A young girl sat in a chair looking out the large window. She turned her head slightly as she heard them entering, blond hair swaying gently, and then stood with a smile, her arms outstretched. Kelsey walked forward and hugged the girl. "Thanks for coming" Namine said as they broke apart. "No problem" Kelsey said with a half smile. Riku nodded to the young witch, not one for shows of affection, and stepped forward. "What's going on?" he asked with a note of barely audible concern in his voice.

Namine's smile faded and her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Well, as you know, Sora, Jenn, and Rachel have been gone for two days now". Kelsey nodded and Riku remained motionless, listening. Namine continued. "It's not just them" she said, fidgeting with her hands "Cloud, Leon, Roxas, and Tifa…they're gone as well". Kelsey sighed exasperatedly. "Great" she muttered. Riku gave her a silencing look and motioned for Namine to continue.

"Sora went to a world on the outskirts the day before all the others disappeared" Namine said. This time, Riku broke the silence. "He told me the king had said Nobodies were acting up there" he said, frowning. Namine mirrored his look of confusion. "Well whatever the case" she said, shaking her head slightly "Sora appeared to all of them the next day telling them to come with him. That's the last anyone saw". Kelsey folded her thin arms and looked from the witch to the Keyblader. "I'm almost afraid to ask" she said, raising an eyebrow "what world did they go to?"

Namine opened her sketchbook and showed Riku and Kelsey a drawing of a large, dark city. "It's called 'Opera Populaire, Paris'" she said. Kelsey uttered an exclamation, drawing the eyes of the other two onto her. Kelsey's eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open. Namine frowned again, reached over, and pushed up on Kelsey's chin making her mouth shut. Kelsey shook her head and spoke. "That's Phantom of the Opera land!" she said. Riku's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. "Well I don't know what that means" he sighed "but I'm guessing it means that you know that place?". Kelsey nodded her head vigorously.

"Well good" said Namine with a slight smile "because you two are going there". "What?" Riku and Kelsey asked loudly. Namine's eyes widened and a look of surprise came across her pale face. "Well someone had to rescue them" she said "they don't remember". Kelsey started. "What do you…oh, of course…."she grumbled. She sighed loudly and looked at Namine. "Let me take a gander at this" she said, hands on her hips "they've taken the place of Phantom characters and they don't remember who they are?"

Namine looked rather surprised, but she nodded. Riku rolled his eyes. "So how do we get there?" he sighed, scratching the back of his head. Namine did not answer, at least not vocally. She turned on the spot and raised her hand in the air. At once, a black and purple vortex appeared in the wall in front of her. "Favorite way to travel" Kelsey said laughing slightly. Namine motioned with her thumb. "Better get moving" she said "and don't forget, they don't remember anything!"

Riku and Kelsey nodded then stepped in front of the portal. "Ladies first" said Riku, motioning with his hand. "You are so cute!" Kelsey squealed before stepping through the portal. Riku smacked his hand to his forehead as Namine tried to cover her laughing. "I am _not cute_!" he yelled at the portal, then ran in after Kelsey.

And so it began.


	3. Another Awakening

**A/N: Schemer here. There seems to be a significant shortage in the review department of this fic, but we're not about to let that stop us. Plus, we have a most wonderful reviewer!**

**dark sorceress of egypt: You are the most amazing person on the planet! You have our eternal gratitude **

**Once again, it is time to update. This chapter is written by Destiny****  
**

**Chapter Two**  
**Another Awakening**

"_Bonjour, étudiants! Réveillez-vous!"_

There was a sudden movement in the room, a fluttering of sheets being thrown off and feet lightly hitting the ground as many girls leapt out of bed, awakened again by Madame Giry, the ballet instructor. She had long black hair that was swept up into a braid, tied up on the back of her head. Her sharp, crimson eyes soon found two of her _étudiants_, who had obviously not gotten enough rest the night before and were making it up now by sleeping in.

"_J'ai dit me réveille! Vous êtes en retard pour la pratique!"_ the Madame said loudly, making her way over to the two with a pronounced frown.

"Wake _up _now, you two!"

The owner of the voice being so close to them, both girls finally woke up. They nearly fell over because they were so entangled in the covers, but eventually managed to stand before Madame Giry, who was frowning down at the two of them.

"Christine, Meg, why are you two the only ones who are late?" the teacher asked, her hands on her hips as she looked at the two girls. _"Maintenant il est temps pour la pratique. Je vous verrai là._

"All right, we'll go now." Meg said, hazel eyes focused on the door beyond her mother. "And it won't happen again, we promise."

Madame Giry stared down at the two girls, eyes narrowed strictly, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Honestly, we will." Christine assured her, light blonde hair twirled around her finger in a habit. "We will see you later, Madame Giry!"

The two hurried off, the ballet instructor following them silently, although she hadn't been the only one witnessing the scene.

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A few hours of ballet can really make your muscles ache.

That's what a few of the girls thought, as they sat down for a very short 'break', while Madame Giry talked to the manager about who-knows-what.

"We slept in again." Christine sighed, turning to her equally blonde best friend. "I hope we're not going to get in that much trouble for-"

"Don't be silly, Christine." Meg rolled her hazel eyes, shaking her head at the girl. "You know that we only sleep in occasionally, and you know that we will not get in trouble for this."

To enforce her point, Meg smiled reassuringly at her friend as they stood up again. Christine nodded, feeling a bit better, as they resumed their practice.

"Meg," the first blonde teenager asked her friend as they walked toward the others, "have you seen the new stagehand yet?"

The blonde ballerina giggled, nodding her head quickly. "Yes, we all have, I think. How can you not notice him?"

"He looks younger than the others," Christine continued, smiling. "And even weirder…he has silver hair. Did you happen to notice _that?_"

"Of course I did." Meg said, frowning. "It's a bit strange, don't you think? But I guess it must be in fashion somewhere…you don't really see many young silver-haired men in France these days."

As they passed, something caught Christine's eye. Another ballet rat, watching them walk by, was chatting with the silver haired stagehand they had just been talking about. When they got close to the two, the ballerina girl stared at them with an astonished expression. She looked as if the two had sprouted extra heads, or were changing skin colors.

The girl looked tall for her age, Christine noticed, and now that they were close enough, she could hear a few words that they were whispering…

_Jenn, Rachel, _and _Sora_ were a few of the words that the chorus girl managed to understand. Not that she actually understood what they meant, but it was a little more comforting to hear them talk about other people instead of herself.

"Hurry, Christine, or we shall be late for the next practice!" Meg hurried her along, and the two walked away in silence.


	4. The Worst Part of the Job

**A/N: SO sorry that this masterpiece took so long!!! Schemer is totally to blame for this as she has been in fanfiction hiatus. Well, she finally finished and here it is in all its glory. Destiny will try and update ASAP, but she's going to be busy which some of her own fanfictions.**

**Schemer and Destiny would like to thank every reviewer that they have had. Much love!**

**This chapter was written by Schemer.**

**Chapter Three**

**The Worst Part of the Job**

The hazel eyes followed the two girls walking before them. The girl shook her head and fixed her gaze once again on the ballerinas before her. She sighed as she gave into the twisted reality. She looked helplessly over at the silent figure of the boy next to her, who had also been watching the girls. He looked back at her, eyebrows raised.

"It's them alright" Kelsey said. Riku let his crossed arms fall, watching as Jenn and Rachel, in different guises, passed before them, whispering. "And why is this so significant?" he asked, not quite comprehending Kelsey's meaning. Kelsey took a few steps forward so she was standing next to him.

"I'll tell you what it means" she said, an audible note of discomfort in her voice "It means that Jenn is Christine and Rachel is Meg". This seemed to go right over Riku's head, so Kelsey, to her great annoyance, explained. "There's this guy living in the cellar, right?" she said, her hands moving with her speech. Riku stared back, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "If you say so" he said, giving into the smirk. Kelsey sighed. "Yes, I do" she said, to quote a particularly loud character.

Getting back into her groove, she continued with her lecture. "There's a guy living in the cellar and he calls himself the Phantom of the Opera" here she tilted her head towards Riku "hence the name of the world. No one believes he really exists, but he does. He falls in love with Christine and this whole story is about how he tries to get her to love him". Riku held up one of his hands, silencing his companion. "Wait a minute" he said, frowning "_Story_? Kelsey, this isn't a story. This is a world".

Kelsey let her hands fall to her sides, looked imploringly at Riku. "I know, but" she began, frustrated. Riku raised an eyebrow. "What?" he prompted. Kelsey turned her back on the stage and spoke in a low voice. "This is exactly how the story of the Phantom of the Opera is" she said "I know it wouldn't be like this normally but…" she broke off again, lost for words. She looked over her shoulder, then back at Riku, shaking her head. "I don't know how to explain it, but I'm telling you this is the story" Kelsey said. Riku did not comment, but nodded his head indifferently.

Just then, the French words of Madame Giry flew across the stage. Kelsey whipped around quickly. "Oh great" she grumbled. The brunette looked uncomfortably down at her outfit, the same outfit as many girls around her. She wore a floor length, amber colored skirt of a flimsy, nearly transparent material held up by an ornate red and brown belt. A brown collar of a similar style was around her neck and partially draped over a patterned shirt colored in many neutral shades. On her feet, she wore ballet slippers. This entire ensemble left her stomach, arms, and shoulders bear with her legs practically leaping out of the skirt. All and all, she felt very self conscious.

"This has to be the worst part of this little adventure" she muttered darkly, batting at the skirt in attempts to make it half way decent. Riku nodded. "You don't know the half of it" he said "I'm the only sober person back there!" he jerked his head in the direction of the back stage area. Kelsey smiled sympathetically and took in the appearance of her companion. Riku wore a white, button up, long sleeved shirt that he had rolled up to his elbows under a brown vest. He had long brown pants and leather boots, a common outfit for the stagehands. Kelsey had tried to talk Riku into wearing a hat over his long, silver hair, which had already attracted a lot of attention to him, but he refused on the grounds that the rest of the Opera House could learn to deal with it.

"Well think of it this way" Kelsey said, a mischievous smile lighting up her face "you could be one of them". Riku turned and looked over to wear the girl was gesturing. She was pointing at the men who were in the ballet, all shirtless and dressed in skirts similar to the girls. Riku's eyes widened and a grimace of horror flashed across his face. "Yea…yea that would be….Oh my God" he shook his head fiercely. He frowned, annoyed, as he looked back at Kelsey. "Thank you for putting that image in my head" he said through his teeth. Kelsey cackled in triumph and leapt away in a mock ballet leap to rejoin the practices.

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Ballet practices had come to an end and now they had moved on to rehearsal for "Hannibal". Through out the practices, Kelsey had found yet another one of the missing heroes: Tifa. Tifa had taken the place of none other than Madame Giry, ballet mistress and opinionated mother to Meg Giry. She was also the only one who knew the details of the Phantom. Although Riku had pointed out the logic that they couldn't be in a story, Kelsey could not shake the feeling that the tale was unfolding right before her.

They had been at the opening number for only a few moments when, quite suddenly, a fifty some year old man made his appearance with two other older, mustached Frenchmen. The first gentleman made himself known as Monsieur Lefevre, the owner of the Opera Populaire. The other two gentlemen were, apparently, the new owners: Andre and Firmin. Kelsey was moving towards the front of the crowd when Riku grabbed her by the hand, making a few of the ballet rats gasp and whisper behind their palms. Realizing what the action must have led them to believe, Riku's eyes bulged and he dropped the brunette's hand like it was a poisonous snake.

A demonic grin lit up Kelsey's face and she plastered a sickeningly sweet look on her face. "Yes, Roger?" she asked, using Riku's assumed name. This made him grimace slightly, but he spoke. "Adelaide" he addressed Kelsey by her French name "if you look closely at those two men I think…you might recognize them". Kelsey frowned, but turned to look at them. "I don't get it" she whispered in a low voice to Riku. The older boy groaned. "Imagine them" he whispered in her ear "without the mustaches…I know it's difficult, but just do it". Kelsey squinted in concentration. If they were clean shaven…and maybe had a few less wrinkles, then…

She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing hysterically. "Leon?" she squealed, gesturing to Firmin. "And Cloud" Riku said with a nod to Andre, unable to hide his smirk. Kelsey closed her eyes and shook with silent laughter at the mustachioed Final Fantasy protagonists. Regaining her composure, she looked up in time to be met with another surprising sight. Cloud and Leon had just introduced their new patron: the Vicomte de Chagny. However, instead of a Patrick Wilson look alike, the hazel eyes were met with a young man with pale skin and short, blonde hair that seemed rather unruly. His eyes were a stunning azure. She heard Jenn's gasp as the blonde ballerina recognized the man as a friend of hers from childhood. Kelsey recognized him as someone else.

"Roxas" she said into Riku's ear and the silver haired boy nodded. "Then we've found everyone" he muttered "except for Sora". "That's what bothers me" said Kelsey as she moved into position for the continuation of the rehearsal "he's the one that brought everyone here. One would think he'd be pulling the strings". Riku shrugged and turned his female companion around so that she was facing the stage before retreating. Tifa forced the ballet girls to make a few painful, last minute stretches before going on.

Kelsey's teeth came together in a sharp grimace as she cracked she probably wasn't suppose to. "Oh sweet Nayru" she moaned as she massaged her lower back. The temporary ballet rat was not able to attempt the restoration of her muscles for long, however, because the ballet section of the song was fast approaching. Getting in line with Rachel and Jenn, she ran on her tip toes as gracefully as she could and bent over as several people leapt over the chains that connect her to two other ballerinas. Kelsey flicked her wrists so that her slave girl chains came back to her as she began to sway back and forth to the time of the music. She watched as Jenn artfully spun and the stage, moving her arms in graceful synchronization.

Kelsey kicked her long legs high in the air along with the rest of her line as the pace of the music quickened. She moved her arms to the pace as a shrill voice busted her ear drums. A sharp glare was sent in the direction of Carlotta the Great Yodeling Pigeon who was, in all misfortune to the ears of the world, the lead in the play. The over done vibrato was not helped by the eternally off key tenor of Piangi, Carlotta's leading man and lover, who should lose some weight as it is not healthy for a man of his age, to quote yet another character.

She took a bit of enjoyment as she watched the silver-haired object of her affection heave a giant elephant onto the stage. He seemed to be the only one sober and working out of the gaggle of stage hands and, by the murderous expression on his face, was not too happy about it. As Piangi tried to scramble up onto the elephant, Carlotta hit a particularly ear splitting note and the ballet rats began a series of high kicks that strained the muscles in Kelsey's leg. The same leg was then used to propel her into a series of pirouettes that would have been dizzying and impossible had she not taken eight years of ballet.

Finally, the music abruptly stopped. Kelsey slacked her posture and moved off to the side over to Riku. She folded her arms over her exposed stomach and watched as Carlotta whined and griped to the managers. "She's annoying" Riku snorted, leaning his back against a series of crates. "You have no idea" Kelsey groaned. Carlotta then bustled to the center of the stage to begin the aria from act three just to prove she, supposedly, could.

Kelsey grumbled at this. Her facial expression seemed completely zoned out, but she was actually thinking furiously. She knew they were following the story. For some odd reason, they had arrived right at the time where it was taking place. All the characters, all the actions, all the music, it was all from the story. But could she be sure?

The answer to the question, consequently, is yes.

A huge groan of pulleys and wood came as a backdrop tumbled rapidly down from it's rolled up position. Rachel let out a scream as it fell right on top of Carlotta. "Awesome" laughed Riku, but a swift blow to the midsection by Kelsey shut him up. "What!?!" he snapped at her. "This is the story!" she implored "this happens in the story! I know it, Riku, please just accept it!". Riku rolled his eyes. "Kelse" he said and, had Kelsey not been so serious at the time, she would have squealed that he had called her by her nickname "It's just…really hard to believe".

"I can tell you what is going to happen next" Kelsey said hurriedly "Carlotta is going to quit, Andre and Firmin are going to freak out, Madame Giry will read a note from the Phantom of the Opera saying he needs his salary, and then Giry will tell Andre and Firmin that Christine should be the lead" she put her hands on her hips "If that all happens, will you agree that we are in the story 'The Phantom of the Opera'?". Riku raised his eyebrows. "Sure" he said "if all of that happens" he emphasized those words. Kelsey could tell he was skeptical, but she watched as the scene she had described unfolded before them. As Jenn was lead shakily to the front of the stage, Kelsey looked at the stunned Riku. "We're in a story" he said weakly. "Creepy, isn't it?" she laughed at him. Riku looked at her. "But how could this have happened?" he hissed "What is the likelihood that we would end up in the exact time where the story you know takes place? I mean, c'mo-".

"Shush!" Kelsey said to Riku, waving her hand at him "she's going to start singing!!!". Sure enough, after taking a few deep breaths, Jenn opened her mouth and began to sing.


End file.
